‘Rich mom’ Instagram influencer Chriselle Lim pivots from fashion to education with Bumo Brain – and online classes are not cheap
- Fashion influencer and friend Joan Nguyen originally conceived the company as a physical space, but went digital amid lockdowns
- Monthly tuition for the online school catering to young children ranges from US$199 to US$799 depending on programme track and student’s location
Before Los Angeles went into lockdown in the United States, fashion influencer Chriselle Lim and her friend Joan Nguyen were planning to open a chic little spot in the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Century City. It was supposed to be a space for parents to gather to work, or have coffee with friends, while their small children were being entertained and educated on site.
On May 18, Lim and Nguyen launched Bumo Brain, the virtual version of their original idea, allowing families from anywhere in the world to give their preschool-aged children what Nguyen describes as a “best-in-class experience”.
Membership to Bumo – which means “parents” in Korean and is designed for kids aged three to six – includes a monthly box filled with supplies. Every day, a child logs in, participates in a hands-on or sensory activity using the products in the box, and receives feedback from a teacher. For a higher fee, they also get twice-weekly live classes.
For Lim and Nguyen, who between them have four children ranging from 18 months to five years old, Bumo Brain is something they wished they’d had when they first became mothers. Lim remembers having to entrust the care of her child to someone else so she could continue her work, and being overwhelmed with parental guilt.
